Saturday, November 30, 2013

Amazon, Walmart,
Safeway are all exploring, extending, and extoling attributes of their online
grocery shopping. Peapod has been in the business, taking on-line food orders
since 1989 and has delivered 23 million orders in 24 different markets.Today, Peapod continues to grow riding a new
wave of customers’ Mobile customers.

After several
years of ups and downs Peapod continues to build, measure, learn, and repeat
success.Mobile consumers have been
introduced to Peapod’s virtual supermarkets in a train stations. Peapod now has
over 100 virtual stores at rail stations throughout its markets in Boston,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

Customers while
entering, riding, and commuting seeing Peapods ad in the stations or on the
train are prompted "to download the mobile app, which allows them to start
shopping on-the-go while they're out and about in their communities -- at a
train station, commuting to and from work, at a local rec center for their
kids' soccer games, [or] at a coffeeshop,"

Experience has
advantages and Peapod’s ability to build, measure, learn, and repeat will
propel continued success within this non-traditional fast growing avenue of
food distribution.

Friday, November 29, 2013

“How can you govern a country that has
246 varieties of cheese?” Charles de Gaulle

The French have been producing and selling sous vide products for years. In fact Foodservice Solutions®5 P’s of food marketing: Product,
Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price was in large part developed
visiting, studying tracking the success of sous
vide and other prepared food products in France.

The grocerant niche
focusing on fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eatfood was made to order in France.The French consumer loves to eat customized
food products that are or can be localized with flavor or product the sous vide process allows them to do
that.

In a country with at
least 246 types of cheese chef’s understand the need for customized
products.The grocerant niche continues
to grow in France and expand with some chefs utilizing molecular gastronomy.

Fear not, when the
focus is on Artisans and Authenticity and the food is prepared fresh no
matter how the food is prepared will continue to rule the day in France and
around the world. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Retailers that blend in new avenues fresh food of distribution with
traditional foods packaged with a “twist”,garner sales success. Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food
that can be portable (Take-Out, Take-Away) is now being sold at traditional
restaurants, grocery stores, drug stores, C-stores and dollar stores.

The primary drives of Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared food are single adults.
The United States Census reports that 50% of Americans over the age of 18 today
in the U.S. are single, they are driving this trend.

In addition baby boomers also drive sales of new grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat
and Heat-N-Eat fresh food. Demographic shifts particularly empty nesters living
longer and living is smaller family units than ever before are going continue
to drive this change for years to come.

Richard
Cope was quoted saying “as people are working longer into retirement, there is
a greater need for products geared towards vitality and health in a more senior
workforce. “At the moment energy drinks, foods and snacks are marketed
towards the youth market,” he said, “but they will become more about
getting people through the day at an older age.”

We are entering a new era in food retailing.It is bringing new products and new avenues
of distribution.Men are increasingly
shopping for the family looking at products for the first time or for new products
that either cater to traditional male preferences or new family focused
products.Cope wonders “While
retailers may presume they are pitching to women shopping for families, Cope
questions whether there is a need for more masculine takes on health and
value.Times are evolving and the
grocerant niche is leading the pack in foodservice.

Outside eyes can
deliver top line sales and bottom line profits.Invite Foodservice
Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant
program assessment. Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.usSince 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global
leader in the Grocerant niche.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Increasingly consumers rate supermarket Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food as “restaurant quality”.With the holiday season in full swing many
grocery stores are integrating a catering and fresh prepared food marketing
this year into their mainstream media.

The grocery catering opportunity is largely untapped.Datassentials has reported that 77% of
shoppers have never used a supermarket catering service.Offices parties once the norm for restaurants
and hotels entertaining are fast becoming customers of supermarkets and hosting
the party or event in the office.

Whole Foods, Metropolitan Market, Central Market,
Wegman’s, and Safeway are but a few companies offering quality bundled meal mix
and match options. At Publix and Metropolitan Market you can order on-line a
“Turn-Key” event package.

Regular readers of this blog
know we have highlighted Publix Super Markets catering service, Aprons
Event Planning Catering, which takes care of all aspects of party planning. Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ stated
“Grocery stores have a built in advantage in bundling quality mix and match
catering services over restaurants.

Grocery stores offerings now extend
beyond quality fresh food.They can provide
setup, serving, cleanup, delivery, floral and full beverage service (liquor) in
many states.” In the case of Publix they even take care of arranging venues and
rental of tables, linens and flatware for special events.

Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat
fresh prepared food is fast becoming a staple at home for dinner, at home for
the holidays, and at the office.The
competition for customers is growing.Restaurants, hotels and grocery stores are all offering mix and match
meal components and catering services.

Foodservice Solutions®
specializes in outsourced business development leverage out Outside Eyes for
inside Profits. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food
retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.

Monday, November 25, 2013

In 1974 Burger King created a new slogan “Have it Your Way” that
resonated with consumers, Burger Kings brand attributes, all while expanding consumer
relevance.Has Burger King once again
found its Mojo adding delivery too its portfolio of customization options?

Harkin back to 1974 and the slogan “Have it Your Way” the slogan was an
invitation for differentiation, customization with individualization. 1974 was
an important step in the development of the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh
prepared food aka the Grocerant Niche of today.

Today, fresh prepared food can be found all of these retail food
sector’s Drug Stores, Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, Liquor stores.Each of those retail sectors invite consumers
to Mix and Match fresh prepared food offerings customized family meals.Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ refers
to it as “convenient meal
participation, differentiation
and individualization” or looking back “Have it your way’".

Expanding brand relevance and the slogan “Have it your way” Burger
Kings delivery program “Customers of BURGER KING® delivery have been
ecstatic with the results, and some have even posted their praise on our
website. At BURGER KING®, we love our customers and will do what we
can to satisfy not only your hunger, but your wallets as well.” If success does
leave clues customization, personalization and convenient meal participation
via delivery is a very good clue.

Arizona, Washington, Minnesota, California, and Maryland are just a few
states with locations offering delivery today.If you would like to see if they deliver in your neighborhood here is a
link to Burger Kings delivery information:https://bkdelivers.com/#!areas

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Restaurant industry success is a four
step process according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ Steven
Johnson.Those four steps are Build,
Measure, Learn, and Repeat.

Restaurant success is determined by
consumer’s choice.Year after year one
company continues to show up at the top of the list of consumers, that company
is Papa Murphy’s. Papa Murphy’s focus on evolving consumer preferences for
“better for you” fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat aka Grocerant niche
food is but one aspect of their success.

Blending just the right mix of
Ready-2-Eat Salads with Heat-N-Eat made fresh from scratch pizza and deserts
items Papa Murphy’s has found menu equilibrium. Papa Murphy’s ability to build,
measure, learn, and repeat industry leading fresh prepared metric of foodprice + service + quality
time and time again places them in a unique position of leading the
industry.

Once again this Quarter “Data from
Technomic's Consumer Brand Metrics (CBM) program, which surveys consumers about
their most recent restaurant visits, confirms that top-rated restaurant
concepts continue to be chains that deliver strong value on high-quality food
and beverage.” The winner according to customers was Papa Murphy’s. Here is
what CBM said:

“Papa Murphy's Pizza earned the highest marks of all chains
measured on consumers' overall satisfaction; three-fourths (76 percent) of
consumers say that their last visit was "excellent." Consumers'
ratings of the chain on other attributes signal that they perceive Papa Murphy's
to value both their time and money, indicating that the chain offers very good
portion sizes for the price paid and a highly satisfactory speed of visit. The
chain also received the highest ratings from consumers on its ability to
provide value through high-quality menu items.”

When your consumer move, restaurant
need to move with them.Papa Murphy’s
has done that and done it well.They do
it year after year following four simple steps: Build, Measure, Learn, and
Repeat.Consumers are dynamic not static
your brand must be dynamic as well.

Friday, November 22, 2013

The line between restaurants and food retailers is
growing ever thinner. The fight for America's food dollars continues to
intensify as consumers find fresh prepared ready-2-eat food options at a wide
and growing array of outlets across almost every channel: convenience stores,
chain drug stores, restaurants, grocery stores, club stores, vending and even
more non-food retailers like dollar stores. While manufacturers, retailers and
restaurants worry about choice overload, consumers have embraced their new
choices and show no signs of returning to the old ways. This fight is taking
place in what is called the grocerant niche.

The restaurant industry is not an industry known for
trying to be first as in fastest to market with an ideation, food or technology
advance. In the United States the larger the chain in almost all cases the more
slowly they are to adopt something than a smaller chain or independent
restaurants will. Chain restaurants goal is simple feed one meal at a time in
the restaurant while protecting and edifying the brand.

Historically chain restaurant leaders have denied the
credibility of start-up competitors as non-relevant. The pizza sector is a
great example; evolving from family dinning independents to national chain of
"Red Roof" Italian, then to delivery only outlets and now
take-N-bake is garnering market share in the pizza sector. (Note: Home
Made Pizza Company and Papa Murphy's are further
examples of take and bake pizza operators.)

Trends in the Food
Industry Point to an Increase in Non-Traditional Meal Occasions

At the intersection of the consumer, fresh prepared food
and technology we fine that consumer eating behavior is evolving and is now
beyond the control of traditional food marketers. Evolving culture and
lifestyle, demographics along with the new uncertain economy are all putting
pressure on the American food consumer: Demands of work, economic shrinkage,
demands of raising a family, commuting, social interaction, kid's after-school
activities, all contribute to a food marketplace where convenience vies with
price over legacy brands. Recent advances in food packaging and new points of
non-traditional food distribution have empowered consumer choice, and Americans
are embracing these choices even as legacy marketers cringe. Who's after
restaurant food dollars… simply put… everyone.

Why should you care if Walgreens is selling fresh
prepared ready-2-eat and made-2-order sandwiches? Why should you care if Whole
Foods, Trader Joe's, Safeway and Wegmans are selling ready-2-eat and or
heat-N-eat fresh pizza? Why should you care if Coinstar is selling Seattle Best
Coffee at 1,000 locations for $1.00?

You should care because they are selling it, and you are
not! The fastest growing sector of retail food service for the past four years
has been the Convenience store sector. The C-store sectors growth in large part
has been driven by fresh prepared food. Non-traditional avenues of distribution
are growing, gobbling market share while establishing new patterns of
consumption, price points and customer loyalty.

The Shopper is in
Control Spurring New Retail Food Formats

Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have created ready-2-eat and
heat-N-eat fresh prepared food items with qualitative differentiation as an
entity with identity that has help propel them into ready-2-eat fresh prepared
food leadership. In fact recent research shows that both Trader Joe's and Whole
Foods are each known for high quality (restaurant quality) ready-2-eat and
heat-N-eat foods with distinctive offerings. More important each is leading
with innovative products and package size that create value and have positioned
each chain as a food shopping destination for meal components customized
and personalized for immediate consumption or mix and matched for a meal time
at home. In short they are stealing your customers.

Walgreens
fresh prepared food is restaurant quality and priced less than Panera Bread or
Corner Bakery CAFE. Both Panera
Bread and Corner Bakery CAFE thrive in urban
locations. Walgreens is now growing price, quality and speed of service
advantages over legacy retailers. Legacy restaurant chains must reconsider the
speed at which they evolve and adapt or non-traditional outlets will capture
profits margins as well.

Traditional views of meals and mealtime can pretty much
be discarded. Legacy retailers waiting for the "next big thing" to
copy simply might be out of luck this time. Legacy food retailers may not like
to be first movers very much but it may prove that waiting too long will not work
this time.

The retail food world is evolving at an ever increasing
pace filled with innovation in food, portion size, points of distribution, and
quality fresh prepared meal solutions. The price, value, service equilibrium is resetting
in retail foodservice. In order to edify the brand and reinforce consumer
relevance restaurateurs must leverage Foodservice Solutions® 5P's
of food marketing.

Many legacy food retailers continue to practice brand
protectionism, stifle the brand while diminishing consumer relevance. The
consumer is dynamic not static. Brands must be dynamic, evolving with the consumer.
Four more years of watching other retail sectors thrive should be long enough.
Success in the restaurant world is no longer simply about what happens within
your 4 walls.

Foodservice Solutions®
specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify,
quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand
leveraging integration strategy.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

When
Mike Ellington CEO of Pinkie’s Liquor stores called me a couple years ago and
wanted help driving sales within the Grocerant Niche, I was not surprised.Even though we had previously not considered
Liquor stores in our grocerant niche target.We listened to an insightful Mike Ellington and knew he would be
successful, and we wanted to help.

Today a
good year after opening the new in-store kitchens Pinkie’s CEO Mike Ellington
tells me that every department within the store continues to experience sales
increases. That as regular readers of this blog know is on top of the
incremental sales from Pinkie’s Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food
offerings.A side note for those of you
who are not regular readers of Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ blog
Pinkies has no seating inside or outside.All fresh prepared food is for Take-Out.

Pinkie’s
this holiday season wants to extend the halo of their food brand into the home
and is offering successfulgrocerant
niche Mix and Match meal components that
can be customized into a unique and special family meal.These first time offering include:

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Don’t let Thanksgiving come and go with
the same old same old Turkey.Spice
things up this year with a Heat-N-Eat Cajun Style Turkey from Popeye’s
Louisiana Kitchen.The Cajun Turkey’s
range in size from 9-to-13 pounds.Each Turkey is marinated with a blend of
Louisiana seasonings before being flash-fried for a crispy coating and then
roasted. Don’t worry, enjoy the day with Heat-N-Eat Cajun Turkey.

Popeye’s Cajun style Turkeys are available at most U. S.
locations and this year range in price from $39.99 to 43.99 depending on
location.All of Popeye’s Cajun Turkey’s
come with a set of Heat-N-Eat warming instructions. The Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food niche aka the Grocerant niche can and does
complement brands in every sector of retail foodservice. If you like Cajun flavoring you will love Popeye’s
Heat-N-Eat Turkey. Don’t worry about leftovers either here is a recipe
from Popeye's specifically requesting Popeye’s Cajun Turkey for a Turkey and Sausage
Jambalaya and it's very good by the way. So stay warm, enjoy football over the weekend, with Popeye's Turkey and Sausage Jambalaya.

Recipe: Popeye’s Cajun
Fried Turkey and Sausage Jambalaya*

Yield: 9 – 1½ cup servings per
recipe.

Ingredients:

½ Cup Peanut Oil ¾ tsp. Ground
Black Pepper

6 Ribs Celery Diced ½ tsp. Red
Cayenne Pepper

4 Medium/Large Onions Diced
Large 3 Bay Leaves

1 Large Bell Pepper Diced 1 lb.
Sliced Sausage (Your Choice)

1 Bunch Green Onion Chopped 1½
tbsp. Paprika

3 tbsp. Garlic Chopped 1 lb.
Leftover Turkey Diced

½ tsp. Salt (season according
to taste) 2 Quarts Turkey Stock*

1 tsp. Dried Thyme 1 Quart Rice

Preparing Turkey Stock:

Place turkey bones from Cajun
Fried Turkey into a large stock pot cover with 3 quarts water.

If available toss in 3 celery
ribs and two quartered onions (peel included), 1½ tbsp. garlic, simmer for 30
minutes.

Popeye’s continues to extend
brand value with family holiday mix and match meal options that edify store
level sales while extending the brand into the home on one of the warmest of
holiday seasons.

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.usSteven Johnson is Grocerant Guru™ at Tacoma,
WA based Foodservice Solutions®, with extensive experience as a multi-unit
operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. Since 1991
Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the
Grocerant niche.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Food
quality never takes a step backwards is an often used phase of Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru®.The
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food space continues to evolve with
consumers. There is one brand that help pioneer the niche well before it was
mainstream.That company was Wild Oats.
Wild Oats help pioneer both the organic food industry and Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that was “better for you”.

Since
it’ founding in 1987 until Wild Oats was bought by Whole Foods in 2007 they
grew from 1 unit to 110 stores in 24 states. Along the way Wild Oats created
legions of devotee’s.These many years
later many of those devotees continue to talked about and today reminisce of a delightful
experience shopping at Wild Oats.Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru believes today is the day Wild Oats devotees will
rejoice with news of a resurging brand.

According to Wild Oats they have
“been busy sourcing and creating wholesome, tasty food that’s affordable for
EVERYONE. Because being a pioneer means constantly exploring new seas. So get
on board, and hold on tight!”Welcome
back Wild Oats and all of us at Foodservice Solutions® look forward to shopping
in your new and remodeled stores.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Do you have time
to eat, time for dinner, or even time for cooking at home today?

If you are "Ready-2-Eat" there is a very good chance you are
looking for fresh prepared multi-flavor, multi-ethnic Grocerant meal
components. Heat-N-Eat and Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared food with portability are
driving retail food success in 2013. Where are you shopping for you food today
is not the same place your mother was nor is the meal prepared the same way.

As long as multi-generational family's gather for meals together, the
demand for more divergent flavors continues to permeate. Grocerant mix and
match bundled meal component offerings allow for increased family integration,
understanding and acceptance in less time without a required cook from scratch
skill set.

In the 1940's cooking from scratch was the normal. The average home cooked
meal took 150 minutes to prepare. Everyone sat down at the table and enjoyed it
or not but they all ate the same thing. Today's "home cooked meal"
takes on average less than 30 minutes to prepared. In most cases at least two
different entrées are served.

The average time spent inside a McDonalds in the 2,000 was 11 minutes.
Today 65+ percent of all McDonald's food is sold via the drive-thru. U.S.
fast-food chains are increasingly remodeling restaurants in an effort to garner
additional drive-thru customers inside and increase sales, simple because the
drive-thru can't hold all the cars.

According to the New York Times Magazine - McDonalds Came Back Bigger Than
Ever McDonald's Corp. saw a 50% increase in sales during the first quarter of
2012 after opening a remodeled restaurant in Riverside, California, that
features a new décor, solar panels on the carport, and ceiling panels that
contain L.E.D. lights. During the first 12 months, sales at this restaurant
increased 20% overall.

Walgreens
is creating and bundling distinctive differentiated food consumable's as an entity
with identity by day part in a mix and match meal component format in
select urban setting targeted at both the office worker for lunch and meal
components for them to take home for the family dinner. It is a successful
program. With over 7,550 units operating in the United States Walgreens has the
potential to become the most disruptive force in food retailing in 50 years.
Walgreens with its modular mid-sized foot-print is garnering customers from
both restaurants and grocery stores.

Consumers Want Easy to Prepare Meals

The
grocerant niche continues to grow with companies like Central Market,
Whole Foods, Wegmans and 7 Eleven entering the fresh prepared better for you
space. Meal time is now becoming a time of convenient meal participation,
with differentiation and individualization for the entire family.
Safeway with its lifestyle stores are heading in the right direction however
the stores are so large consumers are forced to spend more time in them than
they want.

More often than not the multi-generational family today is multi-ethnic as
well. Creating a demand for more varied flavors and additional cooking skill
set that is simply not there. Grocery stores, Convenience Stores, Restaurants
and Chain Drug Stores are all selling ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared
food. Is your focus family dinning? Are you selling
meals or meal components for Take-Out, delivery or Take-Away?

Lacking the skill set to prepared fresh prepared multi-ethnic meal
components at home coupled with the time it takes to prepared a home cooked
meal it is clear the buying habits of consumers will continue to evolve.
Bundling mix and match meal components into a meal is one key driver within the
grocerant niche. Given that most American family are comprised of
multi-cultural background. The fight for share of stomach will only intensify.

Restaurants menu's at one time were very narrow in focus and have
moved more upscale with offerings such as Oriental; Chicken Salad,
Southwest Chicken Salad, along with a chef salads. Grocery stores on the other
hand are expected to sell complete lines of reay-2-eat multi-ethnic food. That
places higher expectations on grocers than restaurants or a company like
Walgreens. Walgreens might just be in the perfect spot to expand fresh prepared
food offerings capturing customers from both restaurants and supermarkets.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Alice May Brock said: “Tomatoes and oregano make it
Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon
and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.”

Convenient meal
participation, differentiation and individualization; are each hallmarks of the
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared grocerant niche.That is the recipe for retail food success in
2014.

Meal components allow customers
to select from Italian, American, French, Russian or Greek and utilize the
components at home any way they like.The new American meal can be a composite of any prepared food components
that the individual may want and they can mix and pair them any way as
well.

The United States is a melting
pot of people from all over the world, with different cultures, traditions and
flavor preferences.The new American
meal is a melting pot of flavor and choice.Meal components that can be mix and matched for home consumption are
integral to retail success.

Fresh prepared and portable Ready-2-Eat
and Heat-N-Eat foods are now available for all comers and can be found at
Convenience stores, Drug stores, Grocery stores, Restaurants, Mobile trucks all
just waiting for the taking.When
developing new menu items do you consider where the food will be consumed?

Consumers have been exposed to a
plethora of flavors and have not the time to master the skill of cooking
each.The rapidly growing grocerant
trend is empowering the consumer to establish new customs and traditions in eating
better, more flavorful food.The
Grocerant niche is about convenient
meal participation,
differentiation
and individualization.

www.FoodserviceSolutions.usspecializes in outsourced business
development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food
retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.
Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global
leader in the Grocerant.